Lacing for gloves



(No Mode1.) I

A.. G. MATHER.

v I LAGING POR GLOVES. Y N0. 281,541. Patented Ju1y 17, 1883.

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UNITED l SfIATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALONzO O. Mariana, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

l vI AolNc FOR GLOVES.

'SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters` Patent No. 281,541, dated July 17, 1883. Application mea Juncal, 1352. (No model.)

T all whom t may concern Be it known that I, ALONZO C. MATHER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chi cago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful I1nprovements in Lacings for Gloves, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lacings for gloves provided with slits hereto fore closed by a continuous lacing-cord applied in a zigzag manner to and caught under the heads of hook-shaped buttons riveted in and necessarily projecting considerably above the surface of the glove, said buttons being arranged opposite each other on each side of the slit, and both end buttons of one of the rows or series being bent down so as to firmly hold the cord upon that side, the cord being sufciently slacked between these two points so as to be hooked in a zigzag manner by catching it von alternate buttons of the opposing row, said cord being joined at its free and double ends by an ornamental slide, through an eye of which the cord passes.

From the above-described construction it will be observed that to lace the glove the slacked and rigidly-held portion ofthe lacing-cord must necessarily be hooked over its respective buttons by means of the ngers or an instrument, which is not onlytedious, but somewhat difficult With one glove already on the other hand; that the free cord-that is to say, the portion of the cord not rigidly held by the buttons-is not even auxiliary in closing the slit, but is purely ornamental, as are the buttons upon Which it is caught; and that the slide has no other function except that of merely joining the cords and ornamenting the glove.

Buttons of the character described, or any other shank-button riveted to the glove, are objectionable, in that they rock to one side when subjected to the lateral strain of the cordy or of the button-hole, and not only become painful to the wearer by pinching` and press- (ing upon the wrist, but tear out of and ruin the glove. Furthermore, these hook-buttons cannot be successfully employed forholding a continuous lacing-cord unless the cord is rigidly secured to one or more of them to prevent the accidental detachment of the cord, and when so held by even one of the buttons,

the cord, when drawn tight by taking hold of its free ends, does not uniformly close the slit, for one cord is almost sure to have more slack in it than the other when grasped.

The objects of my invention are toV avoid these Objections by providing a glove with a continuous lacing-cord, connected in such a manner with the glove that when the two projecting ends of the cord are pulled the cord will adjust -itself' in and exert a uniform strain upon the glove in closing the slit upon the hand of the wearer; to provide a glove with retaining devices for a continuous lacingcord which devices are adapted to cause thestrain of the cord, when tightened, to be exerted in a plane with the glove, and with uniformity upon each and every retaining device; and to provide a glove the cord of which is free to travel in its retaining devices, with a slide running upon the cord, and adapted to be operated with onehand in locking the cordsimultane ously with the tightening thereof. I attain these objectsV by devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which* ing my invention, with the lacing-cord slacked and the slit in position for putting the glove on; Fig. 2,' a similar view, with the slit closed and the lacingcord drawn taut and locked by the slide; and Fig. 3, a similar view of a glove having a closed slit, and embodying my invention. Similar letters of reference indicate the sam parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In Figs. 1 and 2 is shown a glove provided with the usual slit, A, opening at the wrist end of the glove, in which and on each side of the slit is secured a series of opposing eyelets, C, which, when secured in position, are substantially flat and flush with the surfaces of the glove, vso as not topresent an unsightly appearance or hurt the wrist of the wearer when pressed upon the same in tightening the glove. Running in these eyelets is a zigzag and crossed arranged cord, B, which is rst inserted through the eyelets next the hand, and its free ends passed through the succeeding eyelets in the manner shown, and projecting some distance beyond the wrist end of the glove. These ends are joined by passing them both through a single perforation in a slide,

Figure 1 is a'plan view of a glove embody- IOO D, which slide may be spherical, oblong, or of any other shape having an attractive appearance. The eyelets are of sufficient size to allow the cord to freely work in them, and the cord, when joined by the slide, is made continuous with reference to the eyelets, and by this construction and arrangement the cord is made self-adjusting when pulled upon to close the slit, and will close the whole length of the slit uniformly by a single pull upon its projecting ends. As the eyelets are substantially Hat, it will be observed that the lateral strain of the cord is in a plane through the fabric of the glove; hence there is no liability of the eyelets to pinch the wrist of the wearer, and teal' out and injure the glove, and, furtherinore, every eyelet has its sub-function to perform, and the strain of the cord upon each eyelet is equally distributed to the others, when tightening the glove, by drawing the opposing edges of the slit together.

To insure adoption by the public, it is essential that a glove-fastener shall present a neat appearance and not disiigure the glove, and the practicability of a glove-fastener depends largely upon its not becoming accidentally detached and upon the ease with which it may be loosened, adjusted, and tightened.

As will be seen, the glove-fastener embodying iny invention and above described is not only neat in appearance, but cannot be accidentally detached, and it can be instantly tightened or loosened.

In operating the fastener with glove on-the right hand, for instancethe ends of the cord or lacing are taken hold of and pulled in a direction toward the arm of the wearer, and when tightened the slide maybe slipped forward toward the glove by the thumb and -forelinger of thehand pulling upon the cord; but the more 4o common method is, after tightening the cord, to take its ends between the forenger and thumb of the gloved hand, holding the cord taut and pushing the slide to place with the other hand; and in this connection it should be observed that the cord and slide are as easily manipulated with a gloved as an ungloved hand, this being an important feature of my invention. The slide, having but a single perforation, j ust large enough for the cords, firmly 5o holds them when pushed down upon the glove, owing to the change of direction of the cords from the eyelets through the slide, causing the cords to bind upon the edges of the perforation.

Having thus described iny invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

As a new article of manufacture, a glove having a slit, A, on either side of which is a 6o series of opposing eyelets, C, through which is inserted a continuous lacing-cord, B, crossed between and running freely in and through all of said eyelets, the free end of said cord passing through a slide, D, adapted to hold the cord in its operative position, when drawn taut, and close the slit A, substantially in the manner described and shown.

ALONZO C. MATHER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM G. Con, L. E. MATHER. 

